UKGTR Season 5 Endurance Masters - Oschersleben (GP) - Jul 1

[Nevski]

Sod's law - first race this season I have actually had the time to make a setup for the GT1 endurance series, and I was really looking forward to this one with sub 1:21s already achieved with the Lister, plus great tyre endurance for the long runs. The most annoying part is, I actually did the laps online today with the UKGTR2 server, and of course the track was dry as a bone. Then I go on the server two hours later for the qualifying and it's a swimming pool 

I tried a couple of laps with inters and wets but with all the spray and headlights on my fps had nosedived to the point where it was undriveable, so I had to quit out. Remind me never to practice for these events ever again. I forget once every year or so and something silly like this always happens 

[tarec]

lost conection for me

[ginsters sponsored]

Not much fun that. The ruddy rain has ruined my weekend .

[Mark J]

i thought it was great fun in the rain, very atmospheric with the reflections off the track, water plumes and headlights 

Unfortunately i had one too many spins constantly watching fast approaching cars in my mirrors or moving off line for them and didnt want to ruin anyones race so i quit half way through. The speed difference on this tight track and the wet was just too risky to continue.

Good fun though, we should have more wet races to shake the grid up 

[pribeiro]

I wrote this, after the GT2/GTC dry race:
This is a hard track to overtake, we only can do it safelly, when someone make a mistake,
spinning or go wide in a corner.
Let me intensificate these words in wet race

Congratulations to all that finished race.

Cheers

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

So near and yet so far.

Got home with 15 minutes to spare, managed to get a slightly non-carp setup for the VCC and settled down for a steady race.

Took hard wets which were the wrong choice for about the first 15 or 20 minutes; just couldn't get any heat in them at all, kept running off both with cold tyres and letting people through - dark cars don't show up well in the mirrors in the rain!

Gradually the rain eased off and the hards started to come good. Fuel usage was well down on normal and I ran through until about 25 minutes before the end without any need to stop. Finally the hards were starting to overheat unless I ran off line to pick up cool water, so I pitted for a splash of fuel and some intermediates, which aren't normally any good to anyone but in this case the conditions were just right for a few laps and I set a PB lap almost straight out of the pits.

Was miles behind Kerr in GT3 but kept pushing as he was obviously struggling too and eventually he spun in front, I spun in sympathy, and 4 minutes from the end a gentle touch in the barriers killed my engine. :'(

Sorry to all the lapping cars who were caught ought by me - the Viper is a handful at the best of times and in the wet with no proper setup... yikes!

[Jeffrey]

Wow what an interesting race!

It already started with qually. I did 2 laps in qually 1 and my time was right behind TT. I knew I had some time over in a sector, so I hoped to do a clean lap in Q2. Problem was, Q1 was wet, Q2 was flooded and times were 3s slower . So now way to take pole like that.

And then the race. TT was much MUCH faster than me in the first 10 laps. I think he started on soft wets. I took a gamble on hard wets, but for the first 10 laps they weren't hotter than 53 degrees C  . So to say the least, they were slippery  .
I had Paul right behind me as well, and I had to work hard to try and keep him behind. Then TT made a mistake in the triple left hander and I was in first.
Not much laps later, he was behind Paul again in 3rd. He was on fire at that stage. He overtook the both of us and drove off again. Well done  .
He made a few more mistaks at the triple left hander, but everytime his lead was big enough to keep him in 1st place.
I calculated I needed around 130L to finish. So when I had 70L left (started with 100L), I though about pitting in and go for softs. But at that time I noticed my tires were heating up (60 degrees). So I stayed out and I could even close up on TT a bit.
Halfway through the race TT went in the pits. I stayed out untill 25 minutes to go, and 15L of fuel left.
Put in 48L and new hards and drove off. Only 3s infront of TT.
I looked like he was going to gain again, but the gap increased and eventually he made an error and also another pitstop.

At the beginning of the race it was looking very bad for me, so I'm surprised I actually lapped the whole field and won.

I had no problems with lapping other cars, and I hope none had the same with me.

Grats to Simon on the GT2 win and (...) for the GTC win (sorry, couldn't see).

[Madd-RIP]

Bit of a lottery that one, I must say sorry to Colin Hines, tried to avoid but it was just too wet.  :'(
The Morgan was pretty good tbh but as I didn't have a wet setup (no suprise there) it was always going to be a bit of a chance. Still many spins, slides and a few VERY dodgy lappings by GT1's and it was over.
Nice to finally have a wet race, I could hassle much faster cars in the beginning so it was quite enjoyable in that respect!
I think whoever has to write the report on this one is going to be VERY busy  

PS twas me Jeff 

[mo]

Toughest race ever for me, hauling the Viper round in the rain. Need a shower now for sure
Chose hard tyres for the first stint thinking that the softs wouldn't last on Viper's rear end. They were absolutely rubbish and rear tyress temps were in the 50s for many laps
The only way to heat them was to slide around which turned out to be quite easy with my crap pedals. Sorry for all the GT2/GTC cars I had to pass after my first (of many) off, I'm sure I held you guys up but I was verrrrrry slow at corner apex and exit.

For some reason tyre temps were much higher in the second stint - maybe my pit crew stuck a set of softs on at the pit stop? Did anyone else get higher tyre temps as the race went on..... it may have been a getting a bit "drier" on line.

Anyway grats to TT on pole in the rain- your avatar is spot on TT

Grats also to Ruskus on lapping EVERYONE but you did have the right car for the job m8

ps. more wet races please!

[Kerr]

That was hard to say the least.

Struggled very badly with the car, but is seemed everyone was in the same boat. Cars everywhere!

It was hard to concentrate on my own race as the fast cars were coming thick and fast. I did my best to allow space but it's pretty damn hard at times. Tried staying wide a few times and found when I did this because of the wet I ended up so wide I was on the grass.

Found the safest method was to sacrifice a few seconds by slowing right down on straights.

Messed up my strategy by bumping the barrier after 30Min's and getting a puncture. It meant my rear tyres were useless for the last 15-20Min's.

Had one spell after the pit stop and seemed to manage 3-4 laps with no fast cars to worry about. Actually managed a few fast laps and was happy, but as soon as the fast guys approach again, it very hard to control your own car trying to make way.

It really knocks you out your stride and then you find you can't see the next braking point coming.

I did my best to keep out of lapping cars. A couple of misunderstandings that I can only apologise for.

Sorry also Dave for that spin towards the end. I could barely control car. I guess you lost it because of me?

The car was smooth at times, but suddenly had wild oversteer that you could not catch.

I now understand how hard it is to be a backmarker with GT1 and GT2s to contend with.

[Simon Gymer]

Wow! What a race, was very intense without really battling wheel to wheel. Had a dire qualifying session with bad tyre choice and having to go out to turn v-sync off so it would run smoothly. No idea where I started, must have been 6th or so in class.

Started on hard wets and not quite full tank (even in dry I didn't need extra fuel with my frugal usage). First couple of laps was like on ice and I figured they just needed warming up, but they never got above 55 degrees. It was awful and although I could keep it on the track it was stupidly slow. So I pitted after about 15 minutes to get soft wets. I came out I think second to last. Immediately I was going 6 seconds a lap faster and I started to cut through the field again after a while back to where I was before I pitted. However, not too long into the soft wet stint the rain eased off and the soft wets temperatures were rocketing and impossible to keep cool. Anyway I decided to put up with it cause my lap times were still great and I was catching people fast. Eventually when everyone else had made their compulsary stops or tyre stops I was in the lead in class, my early pit stop had really paid dividends.

Managed to get to about 15 minutes to the end before the softs were so bad it was starting to get really difficult to get the car round the corners again. Knew I had a big lead over 2nd in class anyway so stopped for hard wets for the last 15 minutes to have a safe run to the flag. After that I was cruising doing great lap times and extending my lead a lot.

The wet really suits my style as I can drive very smoothly when I want to and I managed to get a good wet setup (apparently) in the qualifying sessions for the race.

I really enjoyed that wet race was great to mix it up a lot after soooo many "easy" dry races. The rain easing off part way through, tyre choices and having to cool tyres really brought so much strategy into the racing, I hope for even more wet weather.

Grats to Jeff on the GT1 win.

[Luis Branco]

The wet track was a (good) surprise to break the habit.
Took Q2 to find a balanced setup for the wet race and was able to take 2nd and the same time which was very good.
For the race took soft wet and with it I put some good lap times but suddenly tire temps begin to raise tremendous to the point I had 130º in rear tires. Went for an early pit as I though race line is becoming drier and could stand intermediates. What an awful mistake. I never was able to put a decent time and lost 1 to 1,5 seconds (when not more) for the previous lap times, even when with hot soft wets. Should have gone out with hard wets instead.
The intermediates lacked grip all over the place which forced me to make several big mistakes where I lost even more time.

Congrats to the winners.

[Jeffrey]

Grats also to Ruskus on lapping EVERYONE but you did have the right car for the job m8

That might just be very true. The C5R is very stable and quite good on tires and fuel. The Saleen is a bit better in the rain (more downforce), but the C5R feels great.
Nice one in the Viper, as it took me alot of time to come close to you.

GRATS MADD-RIP 

[Kerr]

I will take the dry anyday!

On saying that I'm not used to the 911 cup and did not even have a set up for wet.

I better practice in the wet for the future.

I was on practice server right up until race and it was nice and sunny. I thought it would carry on the same weather for the race

[will16v]

Nightmare - i haven't really raced at all in the wet since my old system just couldn't handle the rain/reflections/headlights etc etc, but got it going at around 50fps with new system, so not too bad...just my driving that was absolutely terrible!

Tapped Dave on lap two i think, and was all over the shop by lap 3/4. Put a bit of praccy in also, but only in the dry - thought it was gonna be a nice break from the English weather - oh well...

I retired before i caused anyone any real problems, as i really do need to practice racing in these conditions...take my hat off to all that managed to even last half way